"Don't stay too long in this country or it
will capture you." That's the gentle warn
ing Matt Leyden gives visitors to his
home overlooking Lough Allen (above).
To live on a small Irish farm may sound
idyllic, but Leyden, his wife, Ann, and
their three sons know it means hard
work, such as the backbreaking task of
potato digging (below).
While being weaned, their calves lap
a gruel of milk, cereals, and additives, a
cheaper feed than milk alone. Teaching a
calf to drink from a bucket is a tedious two
week process. Mrs. Leyden dips her fin
gers into a calf's mouth, as if to prime the
pump (below).
After the morning milking, Ann and
Matt tote a ten-gallon can to a cart; with
Sally on his lap, Matt lets Jackie pull him
(right)for the quarter-mile trip to the milk
truck stop. Despite the toil, the Leydens
savor the beauty and freedom of their life.
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